


From 2049 to 2018

by Ncredible



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Angst, Episode: s01e06 Star City 2046, F/M, Flash season 5, Legends Mention, old Oliver
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-06
Packaged: 2019-08-17 12:05:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16516151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ncredible/pseuds/Ncredible
Summary: Oliver Queen comes back to 2018 from 2049. He intends to bring Nora back to keep her from changing the timeline.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came to me after rewatching the Legends of Tomorrow episode Star City 2046. I think that Oliver is an interesting character. For the purposes of this story Nora thinks Oliver is dead because of the reasons given in the Legends episode. Oliver still retook the Green Arrow mantle, but he didn't tell anyone outside of Star City he was alive. (Why and how he came to be in 2018 will be explained in chapter 2)
> 
> Also all the bad stuff the Legends episode alluded to has still happened. Meaning Oliver is the only living member of Team Arrow.

“Who is that?” Mom asks pointing at the monitor of the cortex that has a view of portal opening, but it isn’t a speed portal it’s a Time Bureau currier. I guess Sara Lance hasn’t been with Ava that long if Mom and Dad don’t recognize a Time Bureau portal opening

“A Wells?” I guess.

“No, there is, but one Wells here and it is I, Sherloque Wells,” Wells says dramatically taking a sip of his tea as he goes towards the lounge clearly not interested in whoever his coming through the portal. This Wells is way shway. 

“I’ll check it out,” Dad says moving towards the hallway to go to the cortex and take on the newcomer if necessary. 

“Oh my god,” I breath as the newcomer steps through the portal.

“What?” Mom ask looking over at me, but I am stunned silent by the newcomer. Mom looks back over at the monitor and asks, “is that…” but she doesn’t finish her sentence because the newcomer looks up at the camera and everyone in the room is stunned silent to see the newcomer. 

Dad recovers first and rushes into the cortex to greet our guest. Dad appears on the monitor and Mom recovers enough to turn on the sound in time to hear Dad say, “Ollie? Is that you?”

“Barry,” Oliver Queen acknowledges looking over at Dad. I notice that he is wearing the Green Arrow suit and has a bow in his hand down by his side. 

“Did you want to come lab and talk with everyone?” Dad asks trying to lead Oliver Queen to where we are standing rooted to the floor. Oliver doesn’t answer but moves towards the door and off the monitor. 

In just a few minutes Oliver Queen from the future is standing in front of everyone and if I thought everyone was stunned by my appearance at Papa Joe’s house then a Future Oliver Queen has everyone stone silent. He looks different then I remember him, I haven’t seen him since the funeral. He looks sad and worse off then he did at the funeral. 

Oliver Queen looks right at me and opens his mouth to speak, but Dad cuts him off, “how did you get here?”

“Sara,” Oliver explains holding up his wrist that is sporting a Time Currier. I look over at Mom and see that Dad and Mom are both staring at Oliver’s arm, because the arm with the Time Currier is the ‘war arm’, as Felicity always called it. It was a prosthetic that Felicity made so that he could continue to be the Green Arrow. 

“How…? I mean,” Dad says trying to recover, but Mom manages to beat him, “what brings you here, Oliver.”

“I need to speak to XS here,” Oliver says pointing at me with the bow in his hand.

“You’re supposed to be dead,” I say speaking for the first time since Oliver appeared. And he was. I mean he died years ago. Everyone on Team Arrow was supposed to be dead. Although there was a rumor that the Green Arrow hood had changed hands again.

“What?” Dad asks surprised.

“I’m not,” Oliver says, but doesn’t elaborate.

“If you’re supposed to be dead in Nora’s time how do we know it’s actually Oliver?” Cisco demands.

Oliver throws a look Cisco’s way, but looks at Barry and by way of proving himself he says, “you made my first mask and when you first got your powers you came to see me in Starling City and I told you to take your own advice and get a mask. I told you that you could inspire people in a way I never could.” Dad nods like he believes, but it can’t be Oliver died years ago. 

“You just left William all alone. After…” I start, but am silence by Oliver interrupting me and his stare has my blood running cold.

“Stop talking, Nora.” I’ve never seen Oliver like this, when he visited Central City, he always came with a new story about Dad that I couldn’t find in the Flash Museum. After a beat, Oliver speaks again, “I would like a word, Nora, I will wait in the cortex.” He turns on his heal and heads back the way he came.

When he is out of ear shot, “what happened to his arm?” Mom asks apparently it’s jarring to see Oliver without his arm. I just haven’t ever known any different. 

“Felicity said he lost trying to catch up to Dad in the Crisis, but I don’t know there is a lot that no one could really answer questions about the Crisis,” I tell her seriously. What was left of Team Flash, Team Arrow, Team Legends, Team Supergirl and Batwoman, didn’t know anything; their foe did something to their memories. Dad’s disappearance is a mystery; no one can commit to where he might be. Not the Speed Force. Not lost in time. And I know everyone has looked. 

“He looks…old,” Dad finally settles on.

“He is. He’s like 65 or something in my time. And uh… Star City has a rough future ahead of it. Even with the Green Arrow protecting his city.” 

“Green Arrow? Oliver is in prison.” Mom says. Oh, that’s right, Oliver goes to prison around now or now, I guess. 

“Yea, um I’m gonna go talk to Oliver.” I say making my way towards the cortex. 

 

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” Mom says hesitantly clearly worried about how Oliver is, honestly I am too. I’ve never seen Oliver like his, he could be funny, if you got him to say more than three words. Aunt Jenna and I used to play this game of trying to get Oliver to crack a smile when he visited Central City.

“I’ll be fine, if you trust that it’s Oliver, he wont hurt me.” I say confidently, though I am nervous because Oliver is intimidating. 

“If you need us, we will be right here,” Dad says putting a hand on my shoulder. 

“I know, but he’s no match for a speedster, right Dad?”

“Well, uh… right. He’s 65, he’s had to have lost a step or too,” Dad says.

“Wait, could the Green Arrow beat the Flash?” I ask, there was section of the Flash Museum that was dedicated to the many team ups Dad was apart of. The exhibit said that given that Oliver Queen was human he was on the weaker of the Super Heroes, but Mom always said that Oliver was just as super as Dad, but I just didn’t see how a human could take on superspeed, even with all of his arrows.

“Well, it was a tie,” Dad says looking dejected.

“It’s okay, babe, next time,” Mom says rubbing Dad’s shoulders.

“Wow, that wasn’t in the museum. I should go talk to him.”


	2. Chapter 2

“So, you faked your own death? What does William think happened to you?” I demand walking into the cortex trying not to be thrown off balance because Oliver looks a peace; he has his eyes closed mediating. 

“My son is safe and has built a tech empire like Felicity did, he’s safer thinking I am dead.” Oliver says calmly.

“How can he be better off thinking your dead?” 

“Nora, Central City is different than what became of Star City; your city might still have the sun shinning and a police department that still rallies behind its founding principles, but Star City isn’t like that. I’m trying to keep William safe.”

“You’re doing a terrible job at that.” I immediately regret saying that out loud because the look Oliver gives me is enough to stop me cold. 

“I didn’t ask for your opinion, now it’s time to go.” Oliver says.

“I’m not going anywhere, I’m staying here and I’m going to keep getting to know my dad.”

“No, you aren’t.”

“You can’t make me go home.”

“I can and if you don’t come willingly, I will.” Oliver’s eyes tell me that he will force me to go with him. And I start to speed up to get out of the cortex and get away from him, but just as I access the speed force I feel myself slowing down and falling to the ground. Absently, I feel a pain in my leg and I look down to see an arrow in my thigh before I pass out.

When I wake up I am in Caitlin’s lab/ Team Flash infirmary and Papa Joe and Mom are sitting by my bed and Caitlin is working at her microscope, but what catches my eye is Dad and Oliver shouting at each other in the main room of the lab, but I can’t hear what is being said.

Sitting up I ask, “what happened?”

“Oliver shot you with speed dampener arrow,” Iris scoffs.

“This arrow is more advanced than the tech we have in the speed gun,” Cisco observes looking at the arrow under a microscope. 

“What happened to him? He seems just so angry. I’ve never seen him like that,” Mom asks.

“It’s probably because a few years ago, uh, it’s been hard for the Green Arrow, Star City is ground zero for war and death and despair in my time,” I say not telling the room that Felicity was declared dead years ago and most of what they know to be team arrow is either dead or in hiding. 

“It’s no excuse for shooting you with an arrow,” Mom says, “what are you doing?” she asks as I sit up and throw my legs over the gurney.

“I’m gonna go talk to Dad and Oliver,” I tell her.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Mom starts.

“I didn’t ask for your permission, Mom,” I tell her coldly, she is always so controlling and I walk over to the door and open it.

“I don’t care what you have been through, Ollie, shooting Nora wasn’t okay.” Dad is shouting. 

“She heals like you, she’ll be fine, Barry,” Oliver says calmly.

“You can’t just shoot people who don’t want to talk to you, that isn’t okay,” Dad says still shouting.

“Nora shouldn’t be in this time period, Barry, and you have to know it.” Oliver says.

“She wants to get to know me, because I missed her life, how is that a bad thing?” Dad asks Oliver.

“I would think after Flashpoint you wouldn’t need me to tell you the dangers. You told me once that when you mess with time it has a way of messing with you.” Oliver says and Dad stops shouting and just gaps at Oliver.

“I already changed things,” I admit looking at the two men in front of me. 

“Like what?” Oliver demands.

“Cicada,” I admit.

“How could you know that? Cicada doesn’t show up for another what year or two?” Oliver asks clearly trying to remember exactly when Cicada showed up when he was in this time period the first time. 

“He’s early, and a different person than in our time,” I tell him a little bit scared about how Oliver will react. 

“So, you sped up the appearance of an enemy none of us could beat and then you changed who it was. And you still think it’s a good idea to stay here?” Oliver asks, and I find that I would prefer having Oliver shouting because his calm, cool low voice is way scarier than shouting. 

“Yea.”

“I would like another word with you now,” Oliver says and for effect he puts his bow down on the table, “but if you speed off on me again you are coming with me whether you like it or not.”

“Oliver, chill out,” Dad says.

“No, it’s okay, Dad. Let’s go talk in the lounge.” I say walking towards the lounge and I feel rather hear Oliver follow behind me. 

“I forgot this place used to be used as storage,” Oliver says nodding over at the boxes in the corner that Dad, Cisco and Caitlin hadn’t gone through yet. 

“Yea, it’s different here, they don’t even have a scene-wide modified bosonis frequency field to avoid cross-contamination here.” I tell him.

“To be honest I’m not sure what that is and it’s available in our time,” Oliver admits. 

“It’s just the basis for CSI investigations in our time,” I tell him.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Oliver laughs.

I work up the nerve to finally ask one of the questions that’s been brewing in my head since I saw Oliver, “who sent you?”

“Your mother.”

“No way if she sent you then you can just go home. I won’t do anything that Mom wants me to do. Do you know what she did to me?”

“Yes, Felicity and I were there when she put the speed dampener in.”

“You just let her do that to me.” 

“We didn’t agree with her decision, but we understood why she did it.”

“How could there ever be a reasonable for her to do that!”

“Your dad had been gone for about two maybe it was closer to three years and we were coming up with new leads for Barry, but the truth is we were nowhere. Especially in hindsight. I think Iris was scared that you would follow Barry into that void. It might not make it right, but I never could fault her for wanting to keep you safe.”

“Even if this was just keep me from becoming a speedster like Dad. It’s not right.”

“Maybe not, but this really is a conversation you need to be having with your mother. In our time.”

“I can’t go, not now. I messed up and Cicada is here earlier than he’s supposed to be. I have to fix that.”

“Is that they only reason you want to stay?” 

“What do you mean?” I ask worried he might know I want to try and save Dad from disappearing. 

“Are you sure that the only reason you want to stay here is because of Cicada and not to fix a part of your childhood that we all wish she could have made better?”

“What if it was?” I ask wondering what he will do if I just admit I want to save Dad.

Oliver stays silent for a long time. So long that I am kind of worried he’s planning on the best way to force me through a time portal, he finally speaks, “there are moments in my life after 2018 that I wouldn’t want to change for anything. Felicity and I finally going on our honeymoon. Watching William graduate from high school and then college and when he opened his company, but I would be lying if I said that there are just as many things that I would never want to experience.”

“Like Felicity dying?” I ask.

“For example,” Oliver nods sadly at the mention of his wife’s passing and he gets sad for a minute and shakes away the sadness before continuing, “if you can make your past better, you should go for it.”

“Wait. Really?” I ask surprised by Oliver’s approval. 

“But that being said, you have to be able to live with the ripple effects you cause by being here.” 

“I can.” I say confidently. 

“I know you’ve heard of Flashpoint and if that experience taught all of us anything it would be that it won’t just be stranger’s lives you change by being here.” 

“Do you think everyone will forgive me? If I managed save Dad, but everything else is all screwed up?”

“Well, it might take some getting used to and I won’t say that some people won’t be angry. I know John and Lyla were upset with your dad because before Flashpoint they had a daughter and after they had John Jr. The new reality will be something that will take time for everyone to get used to, but we all forgave Barry and I’m sure everyone will forgive you too.”

“Thanks, Oliver,” I say giving him a hug. 

“I can’t promise your Mom won’t send someone else to bring you home, but I’m not going to force you to come back with me.” Oliver tells me returning my hug. 

“Aw, you old softy, Oliver.” I say happily because Oliver looks like the guy that used to come to Central City that Aunt Jenna and I used make a game out of making him smile. 

“Oh okay, that’s enough,” Oliver says pulling out of the hug, “I’m going to get my bow and then head back to our time.” And he heads back to where he set his bow down. When I catch up to him he has already explained everything to Mom and Dad and has his hand posed on his time currier. 

“Oliver! Wait!” I say not wanting him to leave just yet.

Oliver looks up in time for me to give him another hug and whisper, “thank you.”

“Good luck,” Oliver whispers back before letting go and walking though the time portal.

**Author's Note:**

> Firm believer that Oliver would be able to always hold his own against Barry. And until there is a rematch on screen I like to believe that Oliver could still take Barry no matter how experienced Barry becomes. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this!


End file.
